Not issue : What hardware would make my game better?

The Optiplex power supply is probably not replaceable with a generic PSU. These are business systems and tend to be proprietary. The Nvidia GTX 1650 Super is a 100 watt card that should work with the 275 watt PSU in the Dell (assuming you don’t have one of the low profile boxes). It fits comfortably within your price range. A 500Gb SSD will also fit your budget and draw less power than the mechanical drive you have now. That combination will make a dramatic improvement - possibly extend the life of the machine by a couple of years. A RAM upgrade to 16Gb would also help (DDR3-1600) you may be able to find second hand memory at low cost but new memory would break your budget.

I mean, I can’t say for certain that it won’t work. But I certainly would recommend trying to roll with less than the recommended wattage in any case, let alone when the PSU is cheap.

First, graphics card manufacturers seem to be conservative with the PSU recommendations, but that wasn’t the case with the GTX 1650. THG, for example, found the card to be drawing slightly more than 75w on average, and that it had even higher peak draws.

Second, the recommended MINIMUM PSU is 300w, he has a 275w, so that would be pushing it even further.

Third, I plugged his known components with a GTX 1650 into a few PSU calculators and found them recommending more than 300 watts (and that’s without considering any other devices that might draw power from the computer such as a webcam or microphone). In fact, dell seemed to be pushing it as far as they can when they paired the system with a 275w PSU. Just with the CPU, HDD, Optical drive, 2x sticks of DDR3, and a keyboard and mouse (no fans, no other USB devices), my usual PSU calc (https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator) recommends a 286w PSU.

Fourth, PSU manufactures may label their PSU’s differently. Reputable brands tend to advertise the continuous power rating, while others might list the peak power rating. So we don’t even know for certain if we’re comparing apples to apples here.

Fifth (I have less concerns about this point in this particular case, but I’m bringing it up in the interest of completeness), computer manufacturers like to use cheap PSU’s because it allows them to save on costs without compromising on the types of specs that less savvy computer buyers like to see (i.e. clock speeds, RAM and HDD size). Regardless, cheap PSU’s can often fail to live up to their advertised wattages and can fail to deliver enough juice on the 12v rail, which is what modern computers mostly need.

So yeah, I don’t recommend skimping on the PSU. It might work, but he runs the risk of (1) the PSU shutting down when under load (such as during fleet fights), and (2) taxing the fock out of a PSU for sustained periods will shorten its lifespan.

Also, yeah, I saw that some optiplex 0710’s had proprietary PSU’s, but his particular PSU is being advertised as conforming to the ATX standard on seller websites.

Thanks again. After reviewing this, I think the best thing is to start a new computer build. I will try and spread the cost. across few months.

I feel like the first starting point is choosing a motherboard. I think definetly something for Ryzen 5-7 Series.

Prices vary a lot … any recommendation for something that can last me few years but wouldn’t break my bank account ? I like the ATX size.

thanks

Hey man, just wanted to let you know that I saw your response. I’ll get back to you.

thanks! look forward to it

Hey man, I’m working on a build for you. Went ahead and made a spreadsheet. Don’t know how much you’re looking to spend, or what your exact needs are, so I’m going to try to give you some options. So far, I’m going to recommend getting a discrete graphics card over a Ryzen APU (CPU +GPU in one package). They would let you crank up the graphics setting in Eve, but you’ll struggle to hit 30fps at 1080p even with low graphics settings in many modern games. Anyway, I’m going to try to work on it some more later tonight, and hopefully have it done tomorrow sometime.

Oh, and the listed prices are from Megekko.nl

Edit: Okay, I made some good progress. Since RX570 is so expensive for you (140 dollars for me, 170 Euros for you), I want to take a look at what cards are available to you at what price points. So, I need to finish the video card recommendation, then I can plug it all into a PSU calculator so that I can make my PSU recommendation. I’ll also try to find a couple of cases for you, but you can take a look if you want, and I’ll make sure everything is good. The mobo I’m recommending is Micro ATX, but it fits in ATX and Micro ATX cases.

Anyway, I’ll try to finish up on Saturday.

Okay, I’m finished. I left the PSU and Case to you (I explained why in my notes, as well as gave you a checklist of things to look for). I made builds at two price points, but you can mix and match the components (i.e. you can substitute the Ryzen 5 2600 for the 3600 in the top build, or put the GTX 1660 in the bottom build).

If you have any questions concerning different hardware selections, putting it together, or just want me to talk about common rookie mistakes, let me know.

Hope this helps. Hope you enjoy building it. Hope you enjoy playing with it.

I like option 1 … I have to think about it but this is exactly what I needed!
thanks !

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Can I replace the board with this one ?

I think it is nice and maybe if I decide to have more cards in the future ? its a bit more expensive
thanks

Yeah, it’s getting good ratings and looks to be compatible with everything else. And it’s compatible with all the Ryzen CPU’s out of the box (no need to do a bios upgrade). Anyway, I’ll go through the board with a fine tooth comb later this evening and get back to you.

Quick question though. What do you mean by “additional cards”? Do you mean a second video card, or other cards such as wireless?

I meant additional video card. thanks and look forward to hearing back from you :slight_smile:

Okay, mobo looks good. Feel free to pull the trigger.

We might want to pick out an AMD video card, however, so that you can use crossfire; and possibly get a beefier PSU from the get go (that way you don’t have to upgrade the PSU when you add a second card). So, let me know what you want to do about that.

I will likely buy a 600W PSU. I am ready to pull the trigger.
One last thing … what do I need extra to mount ? Looks like I need at least the bracket for the SSD ? It doesn’t come by default. I want to avoid not being able to complete the build because I a missing screws or a cable here … or I don’t know ?

Okay, the M.2 SSD plugs directly into the motherboard, so you won’t need a bracket. And on a side note, modern cases should all come with at least one mount for a 2.5in drive. Anyway, you shouldn’t need to buy anything extra. The case will come with a bunch of screws and brass standoffs for the motherboard. And all necessary cables will come pre-attached to the component or with the mobo (i.e. SATA cables).

Also, check out this video about protecting your components from Electrostatic Discharge damage. Static electricity can damage components, but it’s pretty easy to avoid. You don’t need any extra equipment, just touch a plugged in, but powered off, power supply before you start working with any exposed PCB, after you’ve done anything that might generate static electricity (like walk to the kitchen and back). It’s not hard, and some people don’t even do it. But, I like to be on the safe side.

Go with the cloud and never upgrade again.
http://shadow.tech

i suggest linking both the suggested build and final build via https://pcpartpicker.com/ and post pics when done!

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Ok I’m there! Ready to pull the trigger. Can I ask you a final check on the case and PSU ? Just to make sure that I haven’t chosen a wrong model ?

One more thing, What is the cheapest way to legally buy windows 10 ?

Thanks!

Case
Okay, the case is getting overall good reviews, but the number one complaint with it is that it has cooling issues (even with extra fans). This could pose a problem if you do install a second GPU down the line. Moreover, your mobo has 1 USB 3.0 header and 2 USB 2.0 headers, while the case has two USB 3.0 headers. You can, however, buy an adapter. Other than that, the graphics card fits, it has good cable management options, and looks quite nice. Oh, and you can move the front panel to 6 different spots. In short, you could make it work, but you might want to consider other options.

Case checklist

  • ATX form factor
  • At least 224mm GPU clearance for a GTX 1660
  • Included front and rear fans, or the ability to mount front and rear fans
  • No included PSU
  • Prefer a front panel with 1x USB 3 and 2x USB 2, but not critical.

PSU
I’m not happy with the ratings on the PSU. I feel much better about the ratings on the 650w seasonic PSU for $56.

GPU
Okay, like I said before, your motherboard only supports crossfire, and not SLI. Crossfire allows AMD cards to work together to display a game, while SLI does the same for nvidia cards. You can, of course, still install two nvidia cards, and have them drive different eve clients on different monitors, but they won’t be able to work together to beef up the graphics of a modern AAA title. So, you might want to consider getting an AMD card. Unfortunately, I don’t have any AMD recommendations that I can enthusiastically recommend. Still, let’s go through them.

The RX 590 offers pretty much the same level of performance as the GTX 1660. But you only have two options.

The XFX version has acceptable ratings and is only a couple Euro’s more (270mm length / requires 1x 8pin and 1x6pin). It’s only $190 bucks on Amazon in the states, and at that price, it’s a steal. Unfortunately, you’ll have to pay 234 euros, which is an acceptable price.

The Saphire Radeon version has excellent ratings, but is rather pricey for what you get (260 euros, 285mm length, 1x 8pin power connector).

Alternatively you can roll with an RX 5500 XT. First off, note that there is an 8GB and a 4GB version. The 8GB version has the closest performance to the GTX 1660, but the 4GB version is about 10% slower (which is a more meaningful performance difference). Anyway, the RX 5500 XT 8GB cards are on par with the GTX 1660, but they cost slightly more. Moreover, they are new. Thus, a lot of people haven’t bought them yet; which means I can’t really tell you which ones have good ratings. All I can say is that I have a positive perception of the brands Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, and Saphire. I used to like XFX a lot, but they’ve slipped a bit over the years. And I used to consider ASrock to be crap, but they’ve improved a lot over the years. Regardless, I’m not opposed to XFX or Asrock, but would feel a lot more comfortable recommending their products after having seen the ratings.

Anyway, it’s up to you and what you intend on using the cards for. If you only want the second card for multiboxing Eve, then the GTX 1660 will work great. If, however, you want the two cards to be able to work together to display a single game, then you’ll need to pony up a couple of extra bucks for an AMD solution.

Ok so I wanted to order and get it before the weekend and pulled the trigger last night :frowning:

Couple questions : Is the PSU quite bad ? or just doesn’t have enough good reviews ? Do I swap it or do you think it would be ok ?

Regarding Cards, I don think I will link 2 for the moment, I don’t play a lot of games, only even for now. For multiboxing, I should be able to run 2 client without issues right ?

Regarding Windows 10, any thoughts ?

Okay, the PSU is getting 3.5 stars out of 5, with lots of people complaining that it was doa (dead on arrival). So, it’s not ideal, but if it works, it will work for your needs. So, give it a shot, and if the PC won’t POST or power on at all, you’ll have a good idea where to start your troubleshooting.

As for the video card, yes. That card will work amazing for multiboxing 2 eve clients, and can handle 1080p gaming at 60fps with good graphics settings. I mean, it’s a great card, I only brought up looking at AMD cards because you mentioned installing a second one later.

Um, check out this article from Tom’s hardware. The cheapest way will probably be through a university, but of course you’ll need to know someone in college.